Page 15 - Dear aviator...

inbound/outbound aircraft and the airport. It’s a very simple way of becoming
acquainted with aviation radio speak. You can practice your interpretation of radio
calls (but by all that is holy, please don’t transmit! You could create some serious
problems) and you may also learn to recognise individual pilots and air traffic
controllers by their voices.
For this purpose you could also purchase a receiver-only unit which kind of looks
like an old fashioned radio set and is substantially less expensive - this also
removes any danger of inadvertently transmitting - which I insist you must never
ever do (unless there is an operational reason to).
If you don’t live next to a towered airport you can tune to your local Centre
frequency which is where en-route aircraft are talking to air traffic control; perhaps
this is less pertinent to early training but the syntax of radio communication is the
same and it won’t hurt to spend some time listening to it.
Or you may live close to a non-towered aerodrome; in that case you can tune in to
the local traffic advisory frequency (CTAF) and listen to how aircraft coordinate with
each other as they approach or leave the aerodrome’s airspace. This is a very useful
exercise. Besides this purpose, a handheld radio set is also a nice addition to your
emergency gear in case your primary radio malfunctions.
If you do purchase a radio, be careful to purchase one rated for air-wave/VHF
frequencies. The ones you are are likely to find at consumer electronic stores are
mostly UHF and completely useless for pilots. You can tell the difference easily: if
it’s cheap then it’s not the one you want. If it’s expensive even if it looks cheap,
then that’s the one you want (seriously though, make sure the set is suited to
VHF).
Other items which may have an actual use and are self-explanatory are, in my
opinion, a first aid travel kit and a torch for inspecting the aircraft on those very
early winter morning flights - which you will have. These you can store safely in
your beautiful flight bag.
There are some aircraft, usually the ones with low wings and bubble canopies, that
can get awfully hot. Have a cap or some sort of protection for your head and
sunglasses. If you wear vision correcting glasses have a spare pair. This is not only
a legal requirement but it really does make sense if a lens falls out during a flight.
And invest in a good pair of sunglasses, with corrective lenses if necessary. You
don’t want to be squinting whilst flying into the sun and on final as you come in to
land.
Find a pen or pencil that you really like and stick to it. Try to always have it handy
either in an arm pocket or on your knee board. There’ s nothing more embarrassing
than having to write down a clearance and fumbling for a pen which you were sure
was right there! and then having to ask tower or ATC to repeat.
There is one final item which I shall draw your attention to. Depending on the size
of your school and the number of planes in its fleet, you will find yourself
desperately searching for a fuel drain container. This is used, unsurprisingly, to
drain and check fuel. It would be expected that each aircraft would have its own
but they get misplaced, stolen and they generally disappear at an alarming rate. I
found it was very useful to have and use my own.

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